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aglaea

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Posts posted by aglaea

  1. On 3/8/2015 at 3:40 PM, poliscar said:

    I think some people are overestimating the impact of retirements at Berkeley. Yes, Clark/Wagner are gone, but part of the strength of the program comes from its interdisciplinarity. Outside of the very prominent scholars within the department, doctoral students at Berkeley have been able to work with (often as co-chairs) scholars like Judith Butler, Martin Jay, Wendy Brown, Pheng Cheah, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Linda Williams, Anton Kaes, etc. While the clout of T.J. Clark was very significant in getting Berkeley grads jobs, I would hazard to guess that committees stacked with other academic powerhouses also had something to do with hiring. Needless to say, this is still possible at Berkeley. You can bet that a job candidate who has worked with Julia Bryan-Wilson and Judith Butler, for example, will be very desirable. The same can be said about numerous other combinations, and considering that this is standard practice at Berkeley, I don't see them being any less of a powerhouse in the years to come. 

    Yeah right, if they'll work with you! These superstar professors have so many advisees already that they reject advising requests all the time. Also, Linda Williams has retired and is not accepting any students. 

    When they do agree to work with you, they have little bandwidth for actual advising, and try to slow the students down. Several of these are notorious for drawing out the qualifying exam and prospectus processes for years, such that their students are in their 5th or 6th year before they begin writing their dissertations!

  2. Berkeley Rhetoric shouldn't be a "good candidate" on anyone's list! As a current PhD student, I want to wish you luck with all other applications, for Berkeley Rhetoric should be your last choice. It is, in the words of a colleague this morning, "a sinking ship."

    Not a single student from last year's admitted cohort accepted the offer, because they realized how disconnected the faculty is, how pettily political, how unsupportive. The reason students take an average of 9 years to graduate isn't that they love the program, it's because they're stymied at every step: exams rescheduled at the last minute (or just not sent to them on the appointed day), 6th and 7th drafts of a prospectus rejected, professors refusing to advise students or then backing out...  You can imagine why so many students leave: change departments, move schools, or simply disappear.

    Courses are a joke, professors don't come to events or their own office hours, new hires are the faculty's friends rather than applicants with whom students would want to work, the administration is ridiculous, and they renege on funding offers. 
    Good luck!

  3. Plus, I'm guessing you're a female, which unfortunately can also have an adverse affect (granted it may not necessarily be a conscious decision). Which is why I think applications should be assigned #'s and names should be excluded while being evaluated. That said, I hope (and think) you will get into a program of your choosing! There's still over a month left before postseason starts!

    Thank you, superhamdi, for pointing out the bias involved in the acceptance process. I highly recommend (the Philosopher) Jennifer Saul's work on the topic, starting with her article in the Philosophers' Magazine: http://philosophypress.co.uk/?p=1079

    Look at how many comments in this thread presume masculinity, addressing "boys" and "guys". We're all guilty, and if you believe you're impartial, then take this test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

    On the original topic, I'd also stress the importance of professors' interests. My stepmother's advisor bluntly stated when she met him for the first time, "You know why you were accepted, right? You research what I research, and I wanted a new graduate student this year." I doubt that dynamic has changed much.

  4. Given the chance I would NOT have opted for a terminal Master's program ...

     

    I second Phdoobiedoobiedoo regarding avoiding the terminal Master's, unless you have absolutely no background in Philosophy. Especially avoid those programs that are essentially money-making schemes for the university. I made the mistake of doing St Andrew's MLitt, and the town's beauty aside, I cannot say enough negative about the program. All I learned was to despise the philosophy profession.

    Perhaps its better to be driven from the field before you're in too deep, but I do think many of my friends from that program who went into different disciplines or left academe entirely would have made excellent philosophers, had they not been tossed around as moneybags for a pointless year. 

  5. Two people registered acceptances to Northwestern on the results page. If it's anyone here, can you tell us anything else? Was it an acceptance email, or an email to check your status on the application page? Was there any funding information or fly-out invitation?

  6. Is there a professor in your department who may know about previous students from your university who went to the US for graduate studies?

    In terms of programs to consider, I assume you've checked the philosophical gourmet? http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown/breakdown13.asp

    Yes, that's also what we call conference papers. It sounds like you have a strong cv, but I'm in no position to give advice.

    Best of luck with your applications!

  7. Chantelle Mouffe and Shaun Gallagher's "How the Body shapes the Mind"

    Both are pretty awesome

    Nice to see Chantal Mouffe, one woman amongst nearly two dozen.

    The best thing I'm reading is Benhabib and respondents' Another Cosmopolitanism, although Alain Badiou's pop-philosophy In Praise of Love is fun.

  8. I have an article in Philosophia and another in a theology journal.

    Pretty impressive! Your numbers look good, and you have a master's already? This question is prying, but our interests are similar, so I was wondering: why aren't you applying to more prestigious programs, like Rutgers, Oxford, or Yale? 

  9. Do any schools interview? That can be an early indication of one's chances. 

    I'm hoping to hear back from Northwestern, Yale, and MIT in about a month.   

     

    Since we're all just waiting, any predictions on the first school to start accepting/rejecting?

     

    Name the school and when.

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